Name: Spicy, Lemony Shrimp with Caramelized Onions (Dopiyazeh Maygu-e Bushehri)
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: Serves: 4
Cuisine: Iranian
Ingredients: Flat bread (ideally sangak) cut into 4 in/10 cm pieces and kept warm, or 1 green-leaf lettuce, leaves separated, washed and patted dry (or use a salad spinner to dry the leaves); 2 tablespoons oil, for frying; 3 cups/600 g peeled tomato puree (about 3 large tomatoes), or canned peeled tomatoes; 2 cups/170 g fresh Persian or Thai basil leaves, washed and dried; 1 g reen jalapeño pepper, seeded and sliced; 2 fresh limes, cut in half; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 2 tablespoons ground hearts of dried Persian limes; 4 medium-sized yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced; ½ cup/120 ml raw sesame oil; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 teaspoons fine sea salt; 1 lb/450 g large shrimp; 2 teaspoons turmeric; 1 teaspoon fine sea salt; 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper; 5 cloves garlic, peeled and grated

Preparation info

Serves:
4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
1 hr 35

Appears in

Cooking in Iran

By Najmieh Batmanglij

Published 2020

About

We arrived in Bushehr late at night, tired and hungry. Our hosts took us to the Rais Restaurant, where we were served this dish with lots of basil and hot flat bread. It was quite delicious and an impressive introduction to the tastes we would encounter in this port city—a kind of Persian Gulf New Orleans, except that its traditions were much, much older.